Dutch FM survives motion of no confidence

By Janene Pieters on September 6, 2018 - 09:40

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Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs survived a motion of no confidence in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday about statements he made on multicultural societies. Many opposition parties voted against him, but he still has the support of the coalition, NU.nl reports.

Blok faced fierce criticism from the parliamentarians, including MPs from the coalition parties. The motion of no confidence was brought by DENK. "This minister damaged the image fo the Netherlands", DENK leader Tunahan Kuzu said. The motion was supported by GroenLinks, SP, PvdA and PvdD.

But a parliamentary majority consisting of coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie, as well opposition parties 50Plus and SGP still supported the Minister.

During the debate, Blok said that he does not support the statements he made. "I should not have used the words that were careless and I take them back", Blok said. "So I did not mean those words."

Blok previously apologized for the upheaval caused by his remarks, but it remained unclear whether he still stood behind the the statements. In the debate, Blok completely renounced those views.